do not buy from onlybatterypacks.com

[jman571]

An update on the saga . . .

They *finally* tested the charger this morning and told me it was working fine.

I guess then maybe its the battery, so I'll be shipping that back soon for them to test . . .

arggghhhhhhh

Sorry to hear about your ongoing problems Admin  But for me the battery is the least of my worries, I think a company shipped me a defective transmitter & receiver and I spent a lot of money and got very aggravated trying to continue with my robot project, but fortunately I'm now back on track. I just hate it when I planned so hard and long, but could not take into account the possibility that an online company would screw me over. It really makes me think how a good reputable robot parts company could make a killing. I'm pretty sure there's a sufficient demand for it, and it's just sad that there isn't an end all and be all in terms of robot stores. On the other hand...I'm really happy with Lynxmotion's motors, wheels, and accessories. They're expensive, but they're good quality. 

EDIT: I just noticed looking at the thread, the I do have to mention my battery works perfectly fine, that being said, I did not perform any multimeter tests or any of that sort on the battery, so I really don't know if I'm being ripped off a mA here, or a mV there, but my charger charges pretty fast, and the battery provides adequate voltage to my two 12V motors. But in the end, all I can say is that THIS CAN HAPPEN TO YOU regardless of where you order from, my opinion is when dealing with sensitive electronics, or even batteries, this kind of thing can happen. HOWEVER, stores which sell wares (no not warez) of this kind are then judged on their customer service, and it seems it is in this respect that onlybatterpacks.com is seriously lacking. Just my 2 cents...

[Admin]

Robotics in the hobbyist market is a relatively new industry, with most companies less than 5 years old and having serious growing pains.

The entire market is basically ripe for tons of 'management' mistakes

Its our job as customers to offer reviews to counter it . . . bad companies don't survive long on the SoR partslist

If they declare nothing wrong with my battery, then I'll cut my losses and try out some lithium ion batteries I've always wanted from another company

[AndrewM]

I had place an order back in March from all-battery.com for a pair of 8.4 v nimh with charger.  The price was incredible (and jumped up $20 the day after I placed my order).  Of course the combo went into back order until Apr 30, and they were kind enough to notify me, so I decided to wait.  Come week 2 of May, the back order got moved back until the end of May, so I cancelled.  Their customer service was really good however, so despite not having the packs I needed for the You Design It Hoverbot, I will likely use them again.

Anyway, back from my little side track story, while I waited for the batteries I invested in some Li-Ons, balancer and charger for the second robot I am working on. From now on I will be sticking with lions (lipos and limns) for my robots.  For the power to weight ratio, there just in no comparison.  Of course the two robot shells I am making are carbon fiber, so I don't have to worry about the explosion causing too much damage, so that might be part of it for me 

[kirit]

Should I buy from onlybatterypacks? I see they are still on the $50 robot tutorial parts list.

[Admin]

I guess I forgot to update this. So they tested my stuff, said it was all ok, and shipped it back.

But I never got around to rechecking it myself, got distracted . . . it happened around the time I started shipping my Axon, followed by finishing up with work and planning my move to Bangkok.

I have the battery/charger with me, and when I get the time I'll get back to testing it out again. Its just not at the top of my priority list right now . . .

I'll leave the link up for now.

[Metal Slug 2]

Oh dear.  i almost bought a battery for the $50 robot from Onlybatterypacks.com.  luckily before i did, i read this.  i checked out another battery website found on this thread : http://www.all-battery.com
i checked out their stuff.  They have a sale on a battery pack which i think could be used for the $50 robot, it costs only ~$11.  HOWEVER the shipping comes to a Massive  $62.72 - and that's the cheapest option!

Where can i get a battery suitable for the $50 robot (ill need a charger also) for a reasonable price with a reasonable shipping cost??

[kirit]

Oh dear.  i almost bought a battery for the $50 robot from Onlybatterypacks.com.  luckily before i did, i read this.  i checked out another battery website found on this thread : http://www.all-battery.com
i checked out their stuff.  They have a sale on a battery pack which i think could be used for the $50 robot, it costs only ~$11.  HOWEVER the shipping comes to a Massive  $62.72 - and that's the cheapest option!

Where can i get a battery suitable for the $50 robot (ill need a charger also) for a reasonable price with a reasonable shipping cost??

Huh? What zip code are you using? I did a 16$ pack from all-battery and i got a shipping price of 7 bucks for 48091 (detroit).

[Trumpkin]

HOWEVER the shipping comes to a Massive  $62.72 - and that's the cheapest option!

Are you sure you didn't do overnight shipping?

[Metal Slug 2]

OOOOOPS.... .....i never noticed the USPS shipping options.  the cheapest USPS shipping option is still $18.70...which is still a bit pricey.

[Admin]

I finally got around to retesting the battery and charger. The problem is still there, the battery kept running out of charge after very little use.

Then it happened, when trying to recharge the battery, the charger died. So I'm fairly sure it was the charger not working and probably had a ghost short/failure. That would explain why it sometimes worked.

I spoke with onlybatterypacks and Jeffrey asked me to send it back for a replacement after I'm back in the US (shipping in Thailand is very expensive and packages 'disappear' all the time). That won't be for a long time . . . and unfortunately I need a new charger now so will still have to buy a new one . . . at least with the new charger I can test out the battery again.


As for the link to the battery on the $50 Robot, I found some much cheaper batteries so I changed the link.

[Admin]

And the conclusion . . .

I got a hold of a professional battery charger, turns out the battery is fine, nothing wrong with it.

It was definitely the charger. In the beginning it would say the battery was charged but it wasn't. Now it'd just show a red light or no light at all. I shipped it back again simply asking for a replacement, but they insist it's working fine . . .

The final conclusion of Onlybatterypacks.com is:

As stated before there is nothing wrong with the charger. Just like the battery you returned...nothing wrong with that either. We are not going to replace it.

and

We think that it would be advisable to go back to Carnegie and focus on getting a EE as you seem to be totally confused with the use of electricity.

and yea, no need to comment on that . . . time for me to buy a professional charger!

[SmAsH]

We think that it would be advisable to go back to Carnegie and focus on getting a EE as you seem to be totally confused with the use of electricity.

and yea, no need to comment on that . . . time for me to buy a professional charger!

phssst
i don't see them running any robotics websites?

[Razor Concepts]

For a charger I would reccomend a DuraTrax Onyx 230, for $80 you get a AC/DC charger that charges all chemistries (even A123).